Ash and Elm
by LeBibish
Summary: On her 11th birthday, Sakura received a letter, inviting her to a boarding school in far off Scotland. In that year, strange dreams of a bitter cold suggest that a new magical adventure is starting.
1. The Letter Arrives

Disclaimer:I do not own CCS or Harry Potter. I am merely borrowing them.

Bright green eyes stared out the window, watching as the landscape flickered past. Small fingers traced along the curve of a chain, stopping to toy with an irregular pendant. She could see the reflections of her companions in the window, a ghostly world overlying the ever-changing backdrop. A boy, fast asleep with a scowl on his face. A girl, reading a weighty tome, her lips silently forming the shapes of unfamiliar words.

The green-eyed girl smiled and leaned back into her seat. It had been a long trip. She drifted into sleep and began to dream of the year that was to come. She was startled awake when the compartment door skidded open. Brown eyes slitted open, but the boy didn't move otherwise. The girl in the doorway tugged at her robes, her face twisted into a scowl.

She pulled the door closed behind and plopped down on the seat beside the boy, her movements sharp and violent. Crossing her arms in front of her, she pursed her lips and glared at her shoes. The boy sighed in annoyance and closed his eyes completely, rolling his shoulders slightly to face away from her. The girl with the book peeked over the page, her lips twitching in amusement.

The angry girl began to scuff her shoes on the floor. No one spoke. She began to mumble under her breath. The boy twitched.

Green eyes stared out the window, watching as it began to rain. Droplets of water traced across the glass, creating strange patterns. She blinked, once, twice, and the third time her eyes closed in sleep.

* * *

In the middle of spring vacation, shortly before the beginning of sixth grade, Sakura Kinomoto received a letter. It arrived by post, not owl, and it was not from Hogwarts. The letter was addressed to Sakura Kinomoto, Mistress of the Clow, and was from the Wizarding Council of Japan. They requested a meeting with her and her guardians to discuss a matter of education.

The family discussed the letter over dinner. The Council wished to send a representative to the Kinomoto house in two days time. Sakura worried about what might be wrong while Kero tried to comfort her between mouthfuls of pudding. Yukito reassured a suspicious Touya that he was sure everything was fine. After dinner, Touya left for his night job and Sakura headed upstairs, still fretting. Fujitaka called Sonomi Daidouji. He endured her ranting for a few minutes and then explained the situation. He smiled slightly when he learned Tomoyo had also received a letter from the Council. Sonomi informed him that some of her people would be watching the Kinomoto house when the representative arrived. He protested that such an action wasn't at all necessary, and then had to hold the phone away from his ear because of the volume of Sonomi's anger.

When Council member Tanaka Yuichi rang the doorbell two days later, he was greeted by a smiling Sakura and quickly ushered into the living room. Pleasantries were exchanged while tea and sweets were being served. Tanaka found himself sitting alone on a couch across a small table from the gathered Kinomoto family. Sakura was in the middle of the other couch, smiling politely, the Key resting on top of her shirt. To her left was her father, Fujitaka, who was calmly sipping his tea. Touya, on her right, had rested his hands on his thighs and had a considering expression on his face. At Sakura's feet, a transformed Cerberus had stretched out, his mouth slightly open so that his sharp teeth gleamed white in the slanting sunlight from the window. Yue stood behind the couch, his wings mantled and his face impassive.

Tanaka, faced with this rather intimidating sight, smiled slightly. He had championed the cooperation between the Wizarding communities over this matter. He was sure that Sakura would represent Japan well and her actions and those of her family confirmed this.

"Kinomoto-san, what, precisely, do you know about the world of magic–that is, the people who use it?"

She cocked her head slightly, thinking. "Well," her tone was cautious, "I know that some people have magic and some don't. It seems to run in families and there are some clans that specialize in it. There seem to be different types of magic, and I don't seem to have the same kind as I sometimes see mikos using. Oh," she sat up a little straighter and clapped her hands together, "And Western magic is different from Eastern magic since Clow Reed is famous for combining the two."

Tanaka smiled, pleased. "Very good. Western and Eastern magic are considered different and the communities are especially different. We specialize our magics more so that you and mikos use different types of magic. As well, we keep our magic secret, for the most part, from people who do not know magic, but we also live at least part of out lives among them."

Tanaka paused to take a sip of tea. Sakura blinked, looking a bit confused. Fujitaka was nodding slightly. Touya's gaze sharpened slightly and Cerberus allowed his tail to flop from side to side. Yue stood still and impassive.

"Most magic-users here are taught by their families, or they are taken in and taught as apprentices. Some people are never trained, either because they are too weak to need it, or because their magic is latent. Occasionally, people manage to develop their own magic without any training at all" and here he shot a glance at Touya. "In Europe, the magical world has become completely separate from the world of non-magic users who they call Muggles."

He paused for another sip of tea. Sakura shifted in her seat, her attention span starting to drift. Cerberus's eyes were closed and she kicked him softly before he could begin to snore. Fujitaka, Touya and Yue remained focused on Tanaka and his words.

"They have a school to train young magic-users. For many decades, the European wizarding world was very focused on some internal problems, but things have become more stable recently. Now, they have the time and resources to focus on other matters. We have been approached by the headmaster of a school in Britain called Hogwarts, and asked to send a small number of students to facilitate a understanding and perhaps to start a more globally integrated magical world. And we would like you to be one the students representing Japan, Miss Sakura Kinomoto."

Tanaka leaned back into the couch. Touya expression had settled into a brooding scowl. Sakura was blinking rapidly, trying to take in what was going on. Fujitaka set his teacup down carefully.

"Well, Tanaka-san, this is certainly very interesting. We, will of course, have to discuss this and think about it most carefully."

"Of course. Hogwarts does not begin classes until September and such an important decision cannot be rushed. Please, let the Council know as soon as you have decided," Tanaka stood and handed Fujitaka a white business card on top of a small packet of papers. "If you do choose to go, we will be honored to help you in your preparations."

* * *

The hall was warm and bright, a welcome relief after the cold, wet trip across the lake. Sakura was nervous about the sorting. Tomoyo had read a book about the school and had told the group all about the different Houses and the Sorting Hat, so at least Sakura wasn't worried about having to wrestle a troll or anything, like some of the other students. She was worried that she might end up alone, separated from her friends. After all, there were four of them, and four different Houses! Meiling and Li were much more brave than she was and Tomoyo was much smarter. What if she wasn't able to get in the same House as them? 


	2. A Decision is Made

Disclaimer: I can lay no claim on either Cardcaptor Sakura or Harry Potter. They belong to other people and I make no money off of them.

"Hufflepuff!" cried the Hat, the slight echo of the words drowned out by the clapping and cheering of the Hufflepuff students as Tomoyo moved to join her new House-mates. Li, Meiling and Sakura were all still waiting in line. Sakura was still shaking slightly after the encounter with the school ghosts, but she managed to smile tremulously at her best friend's placement. Then she quickly looked down at her feet again; some of the ghosts were still floating around the Great Hall.

Sakura had spent part of her summer trying to get over her fear of ghosts after reading that Hogwarts had so many around. She had succeeded to some degree; they still scared her but not so much she couldn't handle it. She bit her lip and glanced up from her feet at Tomoyo, who was talking to a blond boy sitting next to her. As if she sensed Sakura's gaze, Tomoyo turned around and smiled sweetly at her friend. She pointed up at the ceiling and Sakura turned her eyes upwards.

Sakura's mouth fell open in amazement; she had never seen so many stars before. The city lights usually drowned out most of the night sky in Tomoeda. She smiled in delight and felt herself relax under the glory of those silver lights. The stars reminded her of her own power and the surety that everything would be all right relaxed her.

"Kinomoto, Sakura." She moved over to the stool and the Sorting Hat. The Hat felt soft and warm as it settled over her eyes, blocking out the light.

"Hufflepuff!"

* * *

Touya politely showed Tanaka out of the house while Sakura helped Fujitaka clear the living room table. Cerberus and Yue moved stealthily into Sakura's room to talk together seriously while she was occupied with the dishes.

The family did not mention the subject of Hogwarts again until dinner. By then, Yue had reverted to Yukito and the teenager was diving into his food with as much enthusiasm as Kero. Fujitaka and Touya were in the middle of a discussion about the strange bones recently found in Indonesia.

"I don't think I want to go." Everyone turned to look at Sakura who was fidgeting in her chair.

Touya nodded. "I think it's a bad idea too." He turned toward his father, smirking slightly as he watched his younger sister out of the corner of his eyes. "The little monster can't stay out of trouble for a minute. She certainly can't be trusted to take care of herself."

Sakura fumed and was about to snap back that she could too take of herself when Kero interrupted. "Hey! Sakura, the amazing sorceress and Mistress of the Clow, along with her handsome and powerful guardian beast Cerberus of course, can do anything. She doesn't need anyone's help!"

Touya snorted and glared at Kero. "She gets into way too much trouble! And it's not like a talking plush toy could really protect her."

The conversation quickly degraded into a shouting match between the two, with Yukito smiling broadly and occasionally inserting teasing comments that only managed to enrage the two combatants further.

Meanwhile, Fujitaka ignored the noise and focused on his daughter, "Why don't you want to go, Sakura?"

Sakura moved her attention off the escalating fight. "Well, England is so far away, I would miss everyone so much."

"I'm sure you would have no trouble making new friends Sakura," Fujitaka said smiling. He thought back to his phone conversation with Sonomi. "Maybe you should talk to Tomoyo, since she is also being invited."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Tomoyo-chan is going?"

-

Sakura woke up shivering. Her normally warm room was strangely cold. She huddled into her blankets, pulling them tight to form a cocoon of sorts. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the moments just before she had woken up. She had been dreaming about something . . .

"Sakura!" Kero pulled the blanket off her head. "It's time for breakfast!"

Sunday breakfast was Kero's favorite meal of the week. Actually, every meal was Kero's favorite but on Sunday they had an especially large breakfast. Sakura sighed gustily and pulled herself out of bed. It was useless to resist, Kero would just keep getting louder and more insistent until she got up.

As she got dressed, Sakura's mind drifted back to the day before. A strange school in a far away land. It sounded like one of her friend Naoko's novels. It was even a magic school; Naoko would have been so happy if she knew about it. Sakura paused, her shirt half way over head. Naoko, Rika, Chiharu and Yamazaki; if she went to this school, she wouldn't see any of her friends for such a long time. She wondered what Tomoyo was going to say.

"Sakura! Hurry up!" Kero tugged at the bottom of her shirt. "What's wrong with you? If you don't hurry that Snow Bunny will eat everything!"

Finished with her clothes, Sakura moved to grab some ties for her hair. "Kero, have you ever heard of this Ho-Ho-"

"Hogwarts. I vaguely remember Clow Reed taking us there once, a long time ago." Kero rested his head on one paw and closed his eyes in a manner suggesting serious thought. Then his eyes popped open and his mouth stretched into a wide grin. "I remember they had the best food there! And lots of it!"

Sakura sighed.

-

On Tuesday Sakura had lunch with Tomoyo and her mother Sonomi. They had tea and cakes in the garden while the bodyguards faded discreetly into the background.

"Of course, it was quite a surprise to hear that Tomoyo and you were being invited to Hogwarts, Sakura. It is a very prestigious school." Sonomi's movements as she served the tea were smooth and elegant.

Sakura blinked. "You've heard of Hogwarts before, Daidouji-san?"

Sonomi smiled. "Oh yes, my father was on the Japanese Wizarding Council for many years. I was waiting to tell Tomoyo about that part of our family history until she showed some signs of being a witch." Sonomi pouted a bit. "I should have known my darling girl would be more subtle than that. It seems she's been sewing charms into her clothing for quite a while and no one noticed until recently."

Sakura's mouth dropped open slightly and her eyes darted over to take in Tomoyo's shy smile. Sakura smiled back at her. "I'm so happy, Tomoyo! That you have magic too, I mean."

"It is sad to think of my sweet girls so far away, I would miss you both so much. I can see you there now, going to classes and giggling together. Loving cousins, always taking care of each of other, like me and my wonderful Nadeshiko," suddenly Sonomi was standing, her fists clenched and flames dancing in her eyes. "Then that man took her away from me! That horrible teacher took my sweet and innocent cousin away while I could only look on helplessly!"

Sakura smiled tremulously and carefully turned away from the ranting Sonomi and toward Tomoyo. "Ah, Tomoyo, what do you think about going to Hogwarts?"

Tomoyo smiled, happily ignoring her mother. "It all sounds so wonderful, going to a new school and learning magic." She clasped her hands together, showing a small video camera dangling from a cord wrapped around her wrist. "Oh, I can't wait to tape my lovely Sakura doing wonderful spells."

Sakura slumped back in her chair. Her eyes darted between Sonomi, who was shaking her fist at the sky, and Tomoyo, lost in a fantasy, her eyes almost sparkling in the bright afternoon sun.

Sakura sighed.

-

Sakura couldn't stop thinking about Hogwarts. She talked to everyone about it often, asking their advice, but for the most part they were of limited help. Her father said that it sounded like a great opportunity, but he also said that he and Touya would miss her very much. Then he smiled and said that it was her decision and he was sure that whatever she decided would be good. Touya, on the other hand, was firmly against the idea and talking to him usually ended in a verbal sparring match between him and Sakura or him and Kero.

She tried to get Kero to tell her what he remembered about the school from his trip with Clow Reed, but he always got lost in daydreams about feasts. Tomoyo also had a tendency to get lost in her daydreams whenever Sakura tried to talk to her about it. Talking to them really didn't help much, although it was nice to remember that she wouldn't be going alone.

Yukito had been rather quiet about the matter and Sakura felt strangely hesitant to ask him what he thought about it. One night, after dinner had devolved into a shouting match between Touya and Kero, Sakura went outside, to sit on the steps and watch the stars. She heard someone sit beside her, but kept her eyes fixed on the brightest star in the sky.

They sat in a comfortable silence for some time before Sakura finally turned her gaze toward her companion. Her eyes met Yukito's and he smiled gently. "It's a tough decision, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She pulled her knees and wrapped her arms around them. "What would you do?"

"I think it would be very fun to go to a school like that and meet new friends."

"What does Yue think?"

Softly glowing wings wrapped around the man, pulling back to reveal the moon Guardian. "There is much for you to learn still. Clow-sama went there; he said it was a good place, a good school."

Sakura dropped her head so that her temple rested on her bent knees, her eyes trained on a pure white feather. "If–If I go, Touya and Dad will be all alone." She moved her head slightly and studied Yue's face. "Would you stay here? And protect them for me?"

Yue's mouth curved into a rare smile. "Of course."

It was a warm spring night as they sat together watching the silently twinkling stars.

* * *

Li and Meiling had both been Sorted into Gryffindor. Li sat stiffly at the end of the bench with Meiling clinging to his side. At first, he hadn't been quite so close to the edge of the bench. Every once in a while he had tried to scoot away from Meiling until he was finally at the point where he would fall off the bench if he moved any farther. Sakura giggled at the mental image and Tomoyo smiled warmly at her..

The boy sitting across from her smiled at her. "Would you like some pudding?"

"Pudding!" A small golden blur leapt from her bag. Kero was drooling in anticipation. The entire table fell silent as everyone stared at the strange creature that had just appeared. Sakura dropped her head onto the table and groaned.


	3. Preparations

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or Harry Potter. Better people than me have that right.

Also, I'm really sorry that this has taken so long. I'm a pretty slow writer, and since my beta is busy preparing to leave the country, I'm even slower at editing my own stuff.

Explaining Kero had taken awhile but eventually the Hufflepuffs had accepted him. It would have been easier if they hadn't heard him speak; then she could have explained him away as a normal Japanese magical pet. Maybe it was for the best anyway, since Kero would have hated not being able to speak in front of other people. Sakura never liked lying either–even if it would have meant fewer prying questions from her house-mates.

As it was, she didn't tell them everything. Just that Kero was an intelligent guardian beast that she inherited, along with some spells, from a powerful wizard. She even managed to restrain some of Tomoyo's raptures over the Card Mistress. Sakura didn't want her new friends to think she was stuck-up; she also didn't want her teachers to think she should do better in class or anything because she had more experience.

After dinner, the prefects led each House to their respective dorm. One of the Hufflepuff prefects, Marline O'Donnell, led them to a flight of stairs just a little way outside the Great Hall. A tall blonde turned to Sakura and Tomoyo and gestured at the staircase

"These stairs aren't like the ones upstairs or in the towers. You can't trust those ones to stay still." She sniffed haughtily. "Our stairs are nicer. They always go the same place."

"Oh." Sakura blinked, slightly confused. Had she missed something? Her English was fairly good but something seemed wrong with that last sentence. Stairs didn't usually go different places–did they?

Tomoyo smiled sweetly. "My name is Tomoyo Daidouji, and this is my friend Sakura Kinomoto."

"Cecila. Nice to meet you. How do you like everything so far?"

"Everything is so big! The castle, and the Hall, and there was so much dinner!" Sakura paused for breath, her eyes wide and shining.

Cecila grinned knowingly. "Yeah, they feed us pretty good here."

"Would it be possible to learn how to make some of the desserts?" Tomoyo asked. "I enjoy making sweets for my friends sometimes."

Sakura nodded, turning expectantly to Cecila.

"Well, the house-elves make all the food anyone could want, but if you really want to cook, you can get permission from Professor Sprout to go down to the kitchens. You'll see a few Ravenclaws done there sometimes too."

"Not the other houses?" A first-year had been listening in on the conversation. His red hair was untidy and he had a faintly awestruck expression.

"Well, the Gryffindors and Slytherins never get permission. Some of them sneak down, but it's usually after curfew or some time when no one else goes down there."

"Why?"

"Well, the Slytherins like to be sneaky, that's all. And the Gryffindors . . . well, I don't think any of them ever think to ask."

Sonomi took them shopping in the middle of the summer. School was on break and so Touya insisted on coming as well, Yukito gamely striding along beside him. Kero spent most of the trip in Sakura's backpack, napping after the large lunch he had pigged out on.

The first stop was a bookshop in downtown Tomoeda. Sakura was surprised to find that she had visited this shop before; they had a nice selection of shojo manga. She hadn't known they sold magic books as well. After a brief conversation between Sonomi and the manager, the group trooped into a back room. It seemed like a typical storage room, a bit dusty and full of boxes, with a small door opposite them which opened to a set of stairs.

At first glance, the upper story seemed like a fairly normal bookshop, until Sakura realized that some of the books were glowing. In the corner, she noticed a young woman standing on a stool, trying to grab a few books that were floating near the ceiling. Beside the woman was a table with similar books tied in place.

Sonomi placed an order for the necessary school books while the rest of them browsed. The books had to be special-ordered but they wanted to get them early instead of waiting until they got to Britain, so that they could start reading and preparing ahead of time. Most of the books did not have Japanese translations, so the girls would need to spend longer studying then their year-mates because of the language barrier. Sakura wasn't sure how much she would get done, it was so much nicer to go on picnics and have fun in the summer instead of studying all the time. She was already so busy with her English classes, and Kero and Yue were insisting she continued training with the Clow cards so that she could use them effectively and not get tired as quickly. She didn't mind, really, it was a lot of fun spending time with Tomoyo and the Guardians playing–practicing–with the Cards. If only Li-kun and Meiling-chan were still around Sakura was sure it would be even more fun.

Browsing the shelves, Sakura was intrigued by the title _Harmless Hexes to Perform on Older Siblings and Obnoxious Cousins_. She snuck a glance over at Touya, who was leaning against a set of shelves watching Yukito. As if feeling her eyes on him, he turned his head toward Sakura, arching one eyebrow with curiosity. She smiled and put the book back on the shelf.

Yukito ended up with a few books on Eastern and Western magics and a history of the European wizarding world. They were mostly for Yue, he explained, although he was sure others would want to read them too. It would help them understand more about where Sakura and Tomoyo were going he said, shooting a glance at Touya who grunted and looked away. Tomoyo giggled and Yukito smiled brightly.

Tomoyo bought a book on sewing charms and another that had patterns. She had insisted that she would make the uniforms for herself and Sakura as well as any other clothes they might need. When she looked through the patterns, she had pouted at how plain the uniforms themselves were but had brightened considerably when she had gotten to the section on dress robes. A speculative gleam entered her eye as she looked up at Sakura.

After the bookshop, they went to buy wands for the girls. Sakura had thought she would use the Clow Key but Sonomi and Yue had both said that wouldn't work.

"I do not believe it would be suitable for the kind of magic you will learn in Britain," Sonomi said, looking the staff over before returning it to Sakura.

"The Key is attuned to the Cards." Yukito had explained for Yue. Sakura wasn't sure she entirely understood, but she went along with it anyway. If Yue said it wouldn't work, then it wouldn't work.

Rather than going to a store, they went to a private workshop in one of the older districts of Tomoeda. Touya had to leave for work but he asked Yukito to stay and "keep the monster out of trouble." Sakura had fumed for a few minutes but Yukito quickly charmed her into a happier mood.

Wand-maker Ito Hiroshi was a well-dressed man with grey hair and a face that looked like it had been carved from wood. Laugh lines spun a web of wrinkles in the corners of his eyes and across his cheeks. After a polite greeting, Ito pulled a tape measure out of his pocket and took various measurements of the two girls which he then noted down in a small red book.

When he was done, he pointed toward an open door in the back. "Please, go and look through the wood samples. Come let me know when you find the right one."

"But how will we know when we find the right one?" Asked Sakura.

His lips curled into a mysterious smile. "Now, don't worry. You'll know."

Sakura exchanged a confused look with Tomoyo and then they walked through the door. The room was filled with shelves and tables and every available space was covered with small round balls of smooth wood. Hesitantly, Sakura picked one up. It fit perfectly in her small hand.

Meanwhile, the wand-maker turned back to Sonomi and Yukito. "Now then, Daidouji-san, Tsukishiro-san, please tell me how the girls' magic has been manifesting."

Sonomi tapped her ring finger on her cheek in thought. "Well, Tomoyo-chan has been sewing small charms into the clothes she makes. It took me a while to notice them. They're very subtle." She looked proud.

Ito looked thoughtful. "Hmmmm. A feather from a crane-woman's cloak? Or perhaps acromantula spider silk? Feathers are good for transfiguration and many charms but the silk is better for more subtle workings." He peered through the doorway at the tranquil and dignified girl as she gracefully picked through the round wood samples. "Well, perhaps we shall see what she finds first. The other child, what has she been up to?"

"Sakura-chan has been training in a different type of magic. You have heard of the sorcerer Clow Reed?"

"Clow Reed? Hmmmm. Ah, yes! He infused a great deal of magic into . . . what was it? A book? A pack of cards? Hmmm. It would be best then to use a core that is tied to the magic she knows. It will help her focus better. Perhaps you might tell me more about this?"

Sonomi frowned slightly. She hadn't had much time to study how Sakura's magic worked. Suddenly Yukito stepped forward, surprising both adults. He had somehow faded into the background during the conversation and they had barely remembered he was even there. "Yue-san believes he might be of some help." He said with a gentle smile.

Sonomi and the wand-maker blinked in unison. "Yue-san?"

Yukito closed his eyes as shining wings erupted into the air and wrapped around him forming a feathery cocoon. Kero, who had been napping, popped his head out of Sakura's bag. The girls were too absorbed in their tasks to notice, but his brother/partner's magic called to Kero.

Yue looked stern and immaculate as always, his long hair draped over one shoulder and his wings mantled behind him. "The Card Mistress focuses her magic through a Key and uses it to control the magic within the Cards."

The wand-maker nodded slowly, studying Yue carefully. "I see. And might I ask how you are tied to this, sir?"

"I am the Moon Guardian of the Clow, Yue the Judge. Together with the Sun Guardian Cerberus, I protect and guide the Cards and our Mistress."

"Hmmm. You are linked to the magic she uses, you and this Cerberus, yes? Are you then also linked to her personal magic?"

Before Yue could answer, a rough voice interrupted. "Yes, we are." Sonomi, who had been standing quietly in background working to recover herself from her first meeting with Yue, felt a little better. She had met Kero before. The small creature had floated into the room and was hovering near Yue's shoulder.

Yue's jaw may have tightened slightly, although it would have only been noticeable to someone who knew him very well. "Cerberus, as you are representing Clow-sama and the Card Mistress, perhaps you should return to your true form."

Kero cocked his head to the side, then shrugged and floated down to the ground. His wings grew, covering him, and then opened to reveal a large, golden lion. He preened slightly at the look of surprise and appreciation on Sonomi's face.

"You look very nice Cerberus-chan. Hello, Yue-san." The group turned to look at the gently smiling Tomoyo. She lifted her hand and opened her curled fingers, offering a small bit of wood to the wand-maker.

Ito picked it up, examining it carefully. "Well then, is this the right one?"

"Yes sir. When I picked it up, it felt very warm and I heard singing."

"Ah. You like singing?"

–

Sakura looked over at the group. She blinked in surprise at seeing Yue and Cerberus, then glanced at Tomoyo who was talking animatedly with the wand-maker. Sakura bit her lip and turned back to the wood samples. She still hadn't found one for herself; there were so many there. She reached over to pick up another one and her fingers just barely brushed the ball next to it.

A cold wind. Ice and fire. White snow under a black sky.

Sakura yanked her hand back, her eyes round with shock. Then, cautiously, she reached over toward the ball that had triggered the strange vision. She hesitated slightly, her hand hovering just over the wood, then resolutely picked it up. At first she relaxed, feeling nothing strange. Then her mouth fell open as she felt a small heartbeat deep within the wooden core.

She walked out of the room and toward the wand-maker, cradling the wooden ball carefully in her hand. Her smile was wide and delighted as she held it up. "I think this one is right."

"Good, good." He pulled out the book in which he had earlier written their measurements. "Now, let us see. Daidouji Tomoyo, acromantula silk and cherry wood." Tomoyo beamed with delight as he made some calculations. "Core and wood together with your measurements puts your wand at . . . 9 and ½ inches."

He finished jotting everything down and handed a receipt to Sonomi. Then he turned back to his ledger book, muttering, "On to Kinomoto Sakura. Ash wood and here are your measurements . . . hmmm, the closest referents to your core would be . . . there we are. That fixes the length at 9 and 1/4 inches."

"But what is my core?" Burst out Sakura.

Ito grinned and his eyes gleamed madly. "Why, nothing else but a hair each from both of your Guardians, Card Mistress."

Cerberus's head snapped up and he whuffed in surprise. Yue arched an eyebrow.

–

That was the end of the magical shopping for the day, although Tomoyo insisted on going to a fabric store. Sonomi was planning on buying Tomoyo a cat to take to Hogwarts but felt it would be better to get one in London and avoid trying to transport the poor thing too far. Sakura would be taking Kero instead of a normal pet; it had taken quite a bit of transcontinental paperwork to pull it off.

That night Sakura and Kero had dinner at the Daidouji house, since both Touya and Fujitaka were working late. They were driven home by a tall woman in a black dress and sunglasses where they collapsed into bed almost immediately. It had been an exciting day.

The Hufflepuff common room was decorated in muted browns and yellows and felt vaguely like a cellar, or perhaps a burrow. It was lit by a roaring fire which cast flickering shadows over scattered chairs and couches. In one corner, there was a small table piled with what looked like game boxes. Beside it was a low bookshelf with books shoved haphazardly on it. Mostly paperbacks, some of the books were standing up while others were leaning oddly or lying on their sides.

Sakura yawned. It was early for bed, but it had been a long day. Gratefully, she headed for the first year girls' dorm. It was up a flight of stairs, putting it on the main floor of the building. Sakura was glad to see windows lining the walls; she had been worried that she wouldn't be able to see the stars from the room.


	4. Entering a New Land

Disclaimer: Neither Card Captor Sakura nor Harry Potter belong to me. Other people get the royalties and the credit. Also, my description of the Ministry is based on information from the HP Lexicon, the geekiest–though great–fandom endeavor ever.

Just to remind everyone, each chapter starts and ends in Hogwarts, but the middle of the chapter is a flashback. I realize this might bother some people, but it's how I have everything planned out, sorry. Eventually these flashforwards might evolve into a Kero side-story taking place concurrently with the main story, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, does anyone know if there is a way to add a strikethrough on FFN?

Sakura sat up suddenly, the sudden cold leaving her breathless. She shivered in the grey predawn light. Looking at the other girls, she saw that they were all still asleep and none of them seemed to be affected by the chill in the air. In fact, one red-head had kicked all of her blankets off and seemed perfectly happy in just her light pajamas. Sakura frowned in confusion as she shivered again.

Slowly, so as not to disturb Kero, who was sleeping on a pillow at the foot of her bed, she extracted herself from her blankets and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Carefully sliding her feet into her slippers, she quietly snuck out of the room. The fire was still burning in the common room and she quickly warmed up as she explored the cavernous area. She moved over to look at the paperbacks on the bookshelf. Picking up a fantasy book, she slowly sounded out the English title.

"That one's pretty good." Sakura spun around to find Cecilia, the older girl from the night before, leaning on one of the chairs. "There aren't many fun books in the school library and most of those're wizarding fiction. These ones are Muggle. Kids bring them from home and then leave them here. Same with the games." She said, nodding toward the small table.

"Oh. Are all the books not real? I mean, books that are not true stories." Sakura hesitated, sure that the word she wanted must exist in English, but not sure what it was.

Cecilia smiled at her and held up another book. "I think you mean fiction. Most of them are. The Ravenclaws have more nonfiction but you should find a few histories and biographies here."

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It took considerable time and effort to convince Touya to stay home while Sonomi Daidouji took the girls to London a week early. He had at first insisted that he should go as well to protect them in the strange city. He only grudgingly trusted the school to keep them safe. In the end, his father and Yukito had double-teamed him with classes and finances and he had reluctantly conceded. Sakura still half-expected him to show up there anyway, somehow.

He did skip work to see Sakura off at the airport, canceling two appointments to install high-speed internet in apartments near the university. Fujitaka had also taken a day's vacation to say goodbye to his daughter and help her with her bags. Yukito came as well, accompanied by a large bag of snacks, some of which he gave the girls for the plane. Tomoyo's only immediate family was going with them and she had bid farewell to the mansion's staff earlier. A number of the girls' schoolmates had shown up though. Naoko gave them each a book for the trip and Rika had made little embroidered pillows with sweet-smelling plants tucked inside to help them sleep. Yamazaki crafted an elaborate tale of prehistoric hang-gliders crossing the English Channel from Europe and using Stonehenge as a landing site. Sakura was a little disappointed when Chiharu hauled the smiling boy off while lecturing at him.

They had first-class seats, which were very comfortable and roomy, especially for the two petite girls. It was Sakura's first time on an airplane and she was very excited. For the first hour, she stayed pressed up against the window, watching the world fall away beneath her. As they flew higher and higher, the ground was entirely covered by clouds. They formed a strange land under the plane, white hills and valleys stretching out to the horizon. Sakura could almost believe that if she stepped outside she would bounce from cloud to cloud to the edge of the world.

They had an overnight flight and would arrive in London early in the morning, although because they were flying east to west they would actually arrive before they had left–Sakura found it rather confusing. Sakura hadn't thought she would be able to sleep at all, she was so excited. So when the lights were turned off and the window screens pulled down, she settled down to watch one of the onboard movies. In spite of herself, she never saw the end of the movie and slept through most of the long flight.

She woke from a strange dream just as the plane began its long descent into London's Heathrow airport. Stray images teased at the edges of her consciousness. It felt important, like the dreams she had before, when she was chasing the cards. Those half-remembered visions had warned her and prepared her for more than she could have imagined at the time and so she struggled to remember this dream.

There had been a tree, taller than the sky and wider than her house. Snow had been falling and there was a strange noise that cut through the muffling whiteness and echoed deep into her very bones. And a well . . . with ice all around it . . . Her concentration was broken when Tomoyo leaned over her to lift up the window screen. She was quickly distracted by her first glimpse of the famous island and the dream was mostly forgotten, pushed to the very back of her mind.

--

Sakura flipped through her passport, examining the new stamp as they waited to pick up their suitcases. It didn't take long and they managed to get through Customs without any trouble. A driver picked them up outside the airport and took them to their hotel in central London. Sonomi had arranged for a beautiful suite with a view of the river from their balconies. They settled into their rooms, Tomoyo sharing one with Sakura and Sonomi alone in the other.

After a shower and a change of clothes, they went down to the hotel's very elegant dining room for lunch. Tomoyo had insisted Sakura change into a new dress made especially for the occasion. Although she sometimes found Tomoyo's designs a little odd, Sakura was very grateful for the slightly formal, European-style dress and white gloves. It made her feel less out of place among the tidy and refined English diners. Kero was napping in the rooms and had promised to stay there all day–he was very enthusiastic about the entertainment center in the suite's living room.

Lunch was delicious, although Sakura decided she didn't like English tea as much as Japanese. After they were done, they went for a walk around the hotel and the river. There was a small park across the road from the water called the Victoria Embankment Gardens. Statues and flowerbeds bloomed between beautifully green lawns and there were people on every bench, eating their lunches, reading books or newspapers, and simply sitting and watching passers-by. At one end, there was a small stage and plaza surrounded by hedges; chairs filled the plaza and people were busily setting up the stage. There was a flyer posted near the entrance announcing a free concert that evening by a wind orchestra from the United States.

It sounded interesting and they decided to come back to see the performance. It was starting to rain and Sakura discovered that she had forgotten her umbrella at the hotel. She worried that she would ruin the new dress and get soaked until Tomoyo pulled a small umbrella out of her purse.

Smiling gently at her friend, the young girl explained: "I picked this out to match your dress, Sakura-chan." Gratefully accepting the handle, Sakura asked anxiously if Tomoyo had one for herself.

"This one might be big enough for us to share though." She said, looking thoughtfully at the delicately patterned white umbrella.

Tomoyo looked a little disappointed as she pulled a second one out of her purse. "No thank you, I have one for myself as well." Cheering up, she also pulled out a camera. "This way I can tape Sakura in her lovely outfit walking in the rain!"

Sakura blinked. In all the years they had known each other, she had still never quite gotten used to this side of her friend. She was glad to have an excuse not to respond when Sonomi called them over to a statue near the edge of the gardens. The woman smiled at the two girls, her eyes turning a little misty.

"You two look so cute! I remember my darling Nadeshiko used to have an umbrella like that. She looked so pretty, walking in the rain, although she always managed to get mud all over herself."

For once, Tomoyo managed to distract her mother before the inevitable rant about how Sakura's father had stolen Nadeshiko away. "What an interesting statue. Do you know who it is, Mother?" The statue was a man's bust, and clinging to one side was a stone girl. Sakura thought she looked very sad. Then she thought, perhaps the girl had been in love with the man and was eternally mourning his death, and she started to feel rather sad herself.

"Hmmm. I'm not sure who it is. Some wizard or another who also made himself famous with the normal British population, I believe." Sonomi paused and surveyed the area around them. "They could have put it in a less obvious place though." She stepped off the path and moved to the back of the statue. Using a piece of paper from her purse as a guide, she quickly traced a pattern with her finger on the stone. Sakura stared at the statue, waiting for something to happen. There was a small 'click' sound, but nothing seemed to change. She drooped slightly, disappointed that nothing dramatic had occurred.

Sonomi smiled at her and motioned for her to turn around. The greenery-covered fence which separated the gardens from the road now had a small gate in it. Sakura turned to Tomoyo in surprise and then to Sonomi who simply nodded. The two girls, bubbling with excitement, moved to open the gate. At the last minute, Tomoyo stepped back and trained her camera on her friend. Sakura twitched, wanting to be surprised by this but somehow not, and then turned the handle.

Rather than opening out to the road, as it seemed the gate should have to, Sakura found on the other side another beautiful park. Much like the previous gardens, there were bright green lawns dotted with flowerbeds and winding cobbled paths. People were walking around, sitting on scattered benches, chatting, eating, and reading. However, the familiar sights were twisted into strange forms. Rather than wearing suits and dresses, these people had on robes in various colors and some even had tall, pointed hats. On one bench, an elderly lady was scattering bread crumbs, but instead of a crowd of pigeons she was attracting a horde of bright blue squirrels. Behind her, a large ferret was chasing what almost looked like a potato with legs across the grass.

Sonomi sat on one of the benches to look at some paperwork while the girls went to explore the hidden gardens. There were statues out on the main lawns and others hidden in groves or behind fountains—winged horses and imposing griffins were interspersed with prominent wizards and witches. One statue, which actually blocked a side path lined with tall hedges, was a golden sphinx with blank eyes. At the back of the path, Sakura could just see a small door set in a stone wall. She wondered where it led, but there was no way around the large statue and she had to give up on finding out.

On the far side of the park, the girls found a large pond. By now, the rain had stopped and there was even a tiny bit of sunshine glowing behind thinning grey clouds. Waterlilies floated on the dark green water and large koi swarmed over to where the girls stood on a small, elegantly arched bridge. Sakura had a few crackers in her handbag and they crumbled these into the water before turning back toward where Sonomi was waiting. As they left, a small orange fish darted out of the melee, long legs trailing behind it. Strangely, they seemed to be tied in a knot.

They left the wizarding park just in time to catch some of the musical performance outside. It was a little chilly and had started to drizzle again so they didn't stay long. They had a nice dinner at the hotel and went to bed fairly early, exhausted after the long day and still a bit jet lagged. The girls stumbled into their room and slept soundly through the night. The next morning, Tomoyo pulled out another dress for Sakura, who was glad she hadn't packed more of her own clothes. She would never have gotten the chance to wear them.

Their second day in Britain was spent visiting the English centers of government like Westminster and the wizarding Ministry. Kero came with them this time, tucked into Sakura's backpack with a little space unzipped so that he could peek out. He wanted to ride outside of the bag but Sakura had pointed out he would have to act like a stuffed animal the entire time. He was perfectly capable of doing so but it wasn't much fun. He protested that she let him fly around Tokyo and he was rarely spotted but when she wavered Sonomi vetoed the idea. The European wizards had very strict rules about normal people—"Muggles"—seeing any form of magic. Grumbling under his breath, Kero had flown into the open bag to sulk. He had cheered up immensely when Tomoyo promised him a piece of cake when they returned to the hotel if he was good while they were out.

They went to the Palace first, to see the famous guards before heading down to the river area. Parliament was suitably impressive and they took a multitude of pictures of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. The stone architecture was dark and ancient looking and Sakura was fascinated by the many complex carvings and sculptures on the walls and doors. She was also more than a little creeped out when she realized that the big carved boxes in the church were actually tombs with bodies inside. She shivered and hoped desperately that there weren't any ghosts haunting the church.

Afterwards, they had lunch at a small café before heading to the wizarding Ministry. Sakura was surprised and disappointed, especially after the grandeur of Parliament and the Palace, to be walking on a small, dirty street. None of the buildings in the area were at all impressive and she couldn't imagine where the Ministry could be. Surely it wasn't one of these small, rather shabby office buildings? Sonomi stopped by a bright red telephone booth. The glass was cracked and there were various pieces of paper sticking to it, flyers that had been torn down or rotted away, leaving only the taped edges fluttering against the dirty booth. The two girls crowded into the booth with Sonomi while she dialed a number. There was a small ringing noise that was cut short by a female voice asking them to state their business.

"Sonomi Daidouji, Japanese delegate, escorting Tomoyo Daidouji and Sakura Kinomoto to register as international students at Hogwarts. Also, registering one Cerberus as a magical guardian." Sakura wrinkled her nose at her name, she still found the custom of giving the family name last very odd. It made much more sense to identify your family first and it was more polite.

Three silver badges popped out and they attached them to the front of their dresses as the booth dropped down like a lift into a large atrium. There were golden fireplaces lining either side of the great hall with people appearing and disappearing in them, their rapid footsteps echoing on the dark wood floor. In the middle of the hall, there was a large fountain with golden statues; a small group of people was gathering near it. As Sonomi and the girls walked briskly past them, Sakura saw a few pulling signs out of their robes. Most of them looked a bit tattered and worn and when Sakura tried to see what the signs said she was distracted by movement at the edge of her vision. Looking up to see what it was, she was enthralled by the golden symbols that flowed and wiggled across the rich blue ceiling.

At the other end of the hall, they came to a large golden gate. On one side was a small security booth where a man collected their wands before they headed into a hall full of lifts. They went down first to level five which had a large sign emblazoned with "Department of International Magical Cooperation." This seemed like any normal office building until Sakura realized that the windows which seemed to look out over a series of sunlit gardens couldn't possibly do so since they were underground. Then Tomoyo pointed out that a man in one of the paintings was actually moving around in his flat library and Sakura's eyes widened to impossible proportions.

It took them a little bit of time to fill out all the required paperwork although the stack was considerably shortened since the Headmaster of Hogwarts had taken care of a number of legalities before they even left Japan. Even so, Sakura was relieved to be done, until she realized that they had to take care of Kero's registration as well. For this, they went up a level to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Since he was a unique creation of Clow's, he obviously didn't fit into any of the normal categories of allowed magical pets. Sakura had to fill out a special form, with help from Sonomi, detailing exactly what he was and what he could do. Eventually they did manage to get him registered as a magical guardian attached to Sakura and allowed to go wherever she did. Kero did not help this process at all, choosing instead to argue with the witch at the counter and protest every question on the form as "private information." Sakura finally had to threaten to not feed him for a week.

In the end, they managed to get back to the atrium where they collected their wands and headed out. As they passed the fountain, Sakura saw that the people who had been setting up earlier were now being hustled away by a group of official-looking wizards. This time, she managed to get a look at some of the signs. There were "Werewolves are people too!" and "Dwarves demand equal pay!" as well as "End Now Discrimination" written vertically along side a small sign with "Demi-**human**" on it. Sakura paused, trying to see more of what was going on when she was distracted by a loud shout.

"Kinomoto!" Turning around, Sakura saw a short girl with long black hair barreling toward her, dragging a startled boy behind her.

"Meiling-chan, Li-kun, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, shocked to see her friends in London months after waving them goodbye as they left for Hong Kong.

"Are you going to school here as well?" chimed in Tomoyo, smiling as she hugged Meiling welcomingly. Li bowed politely to Sakura, blushing a little as he straightened his rumpled clothing. She beamed back at him, always happy to see her dear friends. He smiled back at her before turning to bow to Sonomi and Tomoyo.

"Yes, we are both attending the Hogwarts school of magic." He said stiffly as Meiling enveloped Sakura in a hug.

"Meiling-chan? But I thought she didn't have any magic?" Sakura tilted her head thoughtfully.

Li flicked his eyes at his cousin before returning his gaze to Sakura. "She didn't."

Sakura's confusion was interrupted when Sonomi reminded them that she hadn't been introduced to the Chinese children, although Tomoyo had spoken about them before. Introductions were quickly made and the group decided to go to dinner together.

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Kero stretched out his paws, yawning loudly. Glancing lazily up to head of the bed, he was surprised to see Sakura gone. Still very sleepy himself, he pushed off the bed and hovered for a minute staring at the empty sheets, befuddled. Slowly turning to view the entire room, he saw that only one bed was still occupied. Yawning again, his mouth open wide enough to almost swallow his entire face, he floated blearily down stairs and into the common room of the Hufflepuff dorm.

Sakura and Tomoyo sat on one of the couches near the fire talking to an older blonde sitting opposite them.

"Is there a music room within the school?" Asked Tomoyo. One of her biggest regrets on leaving her school in Japan was not being able to participate in the choir. She hoped there was an equivalent in Hogwarts.

Cecilia laughed. "To hear people talk about it, you'd think quidditch was the only extracurricular club there was. They're the only ones with official school recognition like competitions anyway. But there are some other clubs, like the music club. I'm part of a knitting group myself." She nodded toward a large bulletin board on one wall. "Unofficial groups like that get to advertise on the boards but they don't get announced at dinner. A lot of them have a professor who helps them get materials, find a meeting place and stuff like that but it's not required. Look around and find something. Can't just focus on classwork all the time or life would be too boring, huh?"

Sakura giggled as the older girl winked at her. She liked Cecilia, although she talked so fast that it was hard to follow her English at times. It was nice that she was willing to be so helpful about the strange school. She hoped that the other first years were getting as much help. Cecilia had explained that the Hufflepuffs generally had an older student help out specific first-years for the first couple of weeks to get settled and then she had volunteered to be Sakura and Tomoyo's sponsor. She was really a very nice person.


	5. A Prophecy Spoken

Disclaimer: I am poor. If I owned either CCS or Harry Potter, I would be rich. Obviously, that isn't happening.

At breakfast, Sakura sat between Cecilia and Tomoyo at the Hufflepuff table. She was happy to see that among all the strange foods on the table there were some familiar choices as well.

"Yeah, the Hogwarts house-elves are pretty good at having something for everyone. They get pretty upset if they think they're not feeding everyone enough." Cecilia said in response to Sakura and Tomoyo's pleased comments.

Kero didn't bother saying anything but simply dived into the food with a squeal of delight; an embarrassed Sakura had to pull him off one of the plates. She gave him a small plate on the edge of the table and determinedly didn't give him everything he asked for. Other students around the table were fascinated by the interaction.

"He can talk! Wow, I wish my pet could do that!"

"What is it?"

"That's so cool. I've only got my brother's old cat."

Sakura was kept busy through breakfast, trying to explain Kero. He was more than happy to accept the attention, preening and bragging in between bites. Sakura wasn't sure what to say about Clow and the cards, and she didn't want to sound like she was bragging, so she just said that he was a magical being made by a powerful sorcerer and that the Ministry had said it was ok for her to bring him. She struggled with trying to give a coherent explanation, because she stumble and search for certain English terms. She knew the language fairly well, but her ability was still limited, especially so early in the morning.

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Dinner had been mostly filled with small talk. The children told Sonomi some of their adventures capturing the cards and then they filled each other in on some of the things that had happened since they last saw each other. No mention was made of Hogwarts—nobody felt quite ready to talk about. Before they left to their separate hotels, they agreed to meet the next day to continue exploring London.

The next morning, they had breakfast in their suite. They were going to spend the day with the other children before Li and Meiling left to have dinner with distant family on the West side of London, while Sakura and the Daidoujis had tickets to the Phantom of the Opera at a theatre near Picadilly.

They met the Chinese cousins outside the Tower Hill tube station. Across the road, they could see the great castle framed against the sky. Sakura was awed and surprised. She had always assumed that the Tower of London would be a tall, freestanding tower like the one from the Western fairytale Rapunzel. This stone castle was not what she had pictured at all. A steep grassy hill that dipped down and then up again around the castle—the moat, she realized—separated them from the castle as they walked alongside one wall toward the entrance.

Sonomi and Li went to the counters to buy the tickets for the group while the girls ducked into a little shop. Sonomi had offered to pay for all of the tickets, but Li had insisted on paying for his own and Meiling's. Sakura found a guidebook about the Tower in Japanese and bought it, though she wondered if she should get one in English instead, to help her work on her language skills. Meiling bought a little bear dressed up in a costume that seemed to be associated with the Tower. Li and Sonomi found them clustered around the jewelry case in the front. Reluctantly, the girls agreed to leave and they crossed the bridge over the moat.

They had made it to the Tower just in time for one of the tour groups–lead by a man wearing a costume very similar to Meiling's bear. The tour was in English and Sakura was glad she had gotten her book in Japanese. It was a little hard to follow everything the man was saying and it was nice to be able to read some of the history more easily.

They passed by Traitor's Gate and followed the guide up stairs, through rooms, around the various towers, listening to his many stories about the famous castle. In the Bloody Tower, Sakura felt like crying over the two Princes who had mysteriously vanished in the fifteenth century. It was a very sad story, and Sakura felt sorry for the two boys but she wasn't sure why it was affecting her so much. Something about the place itself was simply overwhelmingly sad.

As they left the tower, a flicker of movement caught eye. Turning around, she caught a glimpse of two boys standing in the back of the room, watching the group with solemn faces. The older boy met her eyes and nodded in acknowledgement. Startled, Meiling glanced toward her friends and then back to the corner where the boys had been standing–but they were gone. She shuddered and hurried after the group. She was just glad that Sakura hadn't seen the ghosts.

Sakura started to feel better as soon as the group was away from the creepy tower. In fact, she started to feel a little hungry. Looking over the map, Tomoyo pointed out a small shop and refreshment area at the base of the White Tower, the center of the castle. They got some tea and snacks and sat at one of the small tables. The small area was carved into the side of a hill, near where the tower ravens lived. A few of the large birds were lounging on the grass, watching the tourists eating with predatory eyes.

There was something strange about the Tower; a kind of tickling sensation that ran down the back of Sakura's neck and into her chest. She hadn't really noticed it during the tour, being distracted by the guide's dramatic stories. A couple of times she had felt something, but she had dismissed it as chills from some of the more bloodcurdling tales. The Tower had a lot of unpleasant history.

But now, sitting quietly near the grass while the others chatted over a snack, the strange feeling strengthened. A pressure all around her, as if the long and powerful history of the Tower had soaked into the very stones and was radiating out. Sakura looked carefully over her friends' faces, wondering if they felt it too.

Tomoyo and Meiling were chatting happily together. Tomoyo looked content, nodding graciously at Meiling's dramatics over something that had happened over the summer. Sonomi was talking to someone on her cell phone, speaking rapidly and gesturing wildly. Sakura thought it had something to do with her company.

Sakura turned to look at Li. He had been her companion through the adventures with the Clow Cards and later as she turned them into Sakura Cards. He had fought beside her and helped her–he had even won a few of the cards himself through his own strength and power. Surely if this was something magic and not just her imagination, he would feel it.

He was looking back at her, his gaze sharp and knowing. Unlike the few other times she had caught him watching her, he didn't blush and look away. Instead, he nodded sharply, all business and seriousness. There was something magic going on. Sakura reached up to grab her Key, then hesitated and bit her lip.

This wasn't a Card to be captured nor a test by Clow Reed. She didn't know what was going on or what she should do. She wasn't even sure if she should do anything–maybe this magic was supposed to be in the Tower of London. As she tried to decide what to do, she realized that the table had fallen silent. Sonomi had walked away to an empty corner, arguing with someone over the phone. Tomoyo and Meiling were watching their cousins with puzzled and slightly worried expressions.

"What is wrong Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked quietly. "Do you feel something?"

Sakura nodded, her hand clasped over the small pendant that was her Key in concealed form. "There's something here, but I'm not sure what."

Meiling rolled her eyes. "There would be. Alright, use that Key-thingy to send everyone to sleep so we can find out what's going on."

Li frowned and Tomoyo shook her head. "Sakura-chan can't do that Meiling-chan. People are coming in and out of the castle too much. Sakura-chan would have to send the whole city to sleep or else people would notice."

"Well then, what do we do?" Meiling's nose wrinkled in frustration.

"Come up onto the grass." The voice was rough and scratchy, like a rusty hinge grating against a metal door. The four children glanced around wildly, trying to find who it had come from.

With a loud whump and a swirl of dust, a large black shape landed on the wall near their table. One of the Tower's famous ravens had appeared suddenly. It cocked its head, the murderous looking breaking pointing to the side as it watched them from one beady eye.

Sakura blinked and looked over at her friends. Tomoyo and Meiling looked a little startled and Li had fallen into a defensive stance. His hand was twitching toward the pendant he kept his sword transformed in. Sakura hoped he didn't pull it out or she might have to use the Sleep Card in spite of all the problems it would cause.

She turned back to the raven. It couldn't have–could it? She looked around again but there was no one else near. "Um . . . did you just say something, Raven-san?" She asked nervously.

The raven tilted its head again, then gave a rasping cough. Sakura deflated a bit; of course it hadn't–"Yes. Now come onto the grass." Her mouth fell open and she blinked again as it started to hop away up the hill.

Tomoyo pulled her camera out of the small purse attached to her wrist and set it up for filming. Li had fallen out of his defensive stance, but was keeping his hand near his sword. And Meiling–well, Meiling was stomping up to the wall with a determined look in her eyes. Putting her hands down on the stones in preparation for climbing up onto the grass, she turned around to glare at the others. "Well, are you coming?"

Tomoyo smiled and started over, as Li shrugged and moved toward the wall as well. "Wait!" Sakura said and pulled two Cards out of her pocket. She always kept them with her now, just in case. Unlocking her Key into the Staff form, she used Illusion and Shield to create a bubble around the four children. Nobody would be able to see them or get too close to them while the Cards' power held.

Li nodded at her and she smiled, relieved to have done the right thing. Then, worried, she turned to Tomoyo. "Tomoyo-chan, will your mother notice we've gone?"

Tomoyo glanced over at Sonomi, still absorbed in her conversation. She shook her head, "Mother is talking to Fujiwara-san; he is very difficult to talk to. I'm sure we have enough time."

Sakura nodded and then followed the others to the wall. She started to climb it when a hand was thrust into her vision. Li was offering to help her up; he was also blushing and refusing to look at her. She smiled and used his hand to pull herself up. "Thank you Li-kun."

Once they were all on the hill, they started moving toward the waiting raven. The bird coughed impatiently as it hopped from foot to foot. As they approached it, they slowed, walking cautiously. None of the children wanted to be in reach of the deadly beak if the raven decided to attack them. Suddenly, with various thumps and rusty sounding chokes and coughs, more ravens appeared, forming a circle around the group.

The children huddled, facing out at the large birds. The feeling of strange magic increased–Sakura felt shivers running down her spine and she gripped her Key tighter, furiously running through the Cards in her mind–what would work best?

"The great wolf roams the land and hatred ravages the earth, for the sin of the wolf is distrust." The raspy voice ran through her head like nails on a chalkboard; it seemed to come from the bird in front of Meiling. Sakura shuddered and edged back, pressing into the comforting warmth of her friends.

"It is a sin born of the gods. In their fear and doubt, they broke the wolf's trust and his hatred has grown since." A different voice, even harsher, spoke from in front of Tomoyo.

"Life ends and death begins in the circle. Ash and Elm must travel to the under world and the ever moment when past, present, and future converge upon the well. Elemental joining to bring a new world." The raven hopped closer to Li, turning its head this way and that to watch the boy out of both eyes.

"Ware the warnings, dreamer. Life cedes that others might bring it again. Valkyries, daughters of Odin, Sword and Shield, protect those left behind, guarding and guiding to join death that they might emerge from under the World Ash into a new place, a new life." With an earsplitting screech, the largest bird leapt into the sky and disappeared. The others echoed it, then hopped off across the grass.

Sakura blinked, then slowly relaxed. She turned around to face her friends, hoping they might have understood what had just happened. She was disappointed to find that they all had similar confused expressions on their faces.

"Well, it's obviously a prophecy. Why do those things always have to be so weird and hard to understand? Stupid birds!" Meiling glared across the grounds, searching for one of the vanished ravens.

Li shook his head. "That's the way prophecy always works."

"Well it's still stupid!" Meiling turned her glare on her cousin. He shrugged and closed his eyes; Sakura could feel his magic spread across the grounds. Gripping the key against her chest, she also concentrated her magic, trying to see if she felt anything else. The strange magic that had accompanied the ravens seemed to have faded, a small residue lingering only very quietly in the background.

The children clambered back down the hill and the wall and into the small courtyard where Tomoyo's mother was waiting. As the girl had predicted, Sonomi was still busy with her phone call and hadn't seemed to notice the disappearance of the small group.

Sakura recalled Shield and Illusion and slipped the cards back into her purse.

She wondered if they should tell Sonomi what had happened. She was so used to keeping her activities as the Card Mistress a secret, but this was different. Sonomi already knew about the Cards and she was more used to the magic of this country anyway. It would probably be better to tell her, Sakura thought. She explained this to the others.

Meiling and Li were against it. The raven hadn't approached the children until the woman had been occupied elsewhere. Maybe she wasn't supposed to hear the prophecy. They felt that the four should try to figure out what it meant before they told anyone else.

"Does that mean I can't ask Kero about it?" Sakura asked.

Li and Meiling traded glances, then shook their heads. "Cerberus is your magical guardian so it should be alright to tell him." Li explained. "But other than him and Yue, I don't think we should tell anyone else yet. The ravens only told us—there's probably a reason for that."

Sakura bit her lip and started to protest. Just then, Sonomi finished her business and came over, apologizing for taking so long. Sakura turned to Tomoyo, unsure what to do, and the taller girl smiled at her before assuring her mother that they had been fine. The children would keep their secret, for now.

The group finished their tour and had a small lunch at a nearby pub before heading into central London to do some shopping. They picked up some small souvenirs to send back with Sonomi as presents for their friends and family. Sakura picked a number of tins of biscuits, as well as some strangely flavored crisps, to send to Yukito. She found a book on British archaeology for her father. She was hesitating over a present for Touya when Sonomi herded them to the check out counter. It was time for the business woman's meeting and she wanted to get the group settled in the tea room at Harrods before she went.

Of course, she wasn't leaving them there alone. One of the Daidouji family bodyguards would be around, but the stoic women were always careful to stay in the background. Effectively, the children would be on their own for a few hours in the large department store.

In the tea room, they ordered a number of small treats to tide them over until dinner. They talked quietly about some of the things that had happened in their lives since the Lis had last been in Japan. Finally, Sakura managed to work up the nerve to ask the question she had been wondering ever since they had met the cousins in the Ministry.

"Meiling-chan, I thought you didn't have any magic?" She remembered that very well. Meiling had seemed to resent Sakura's magic when they first met, unhappy that she couldn't help her cousin capture the Cards.

"Well," Meiling looked around the room, then leaned over the table, speaking quietly. Tomoyo and Sakura leaned in as well, their eyes bright with curiosity. "I didn't. A few months ago, I was walking in Hong Kong when I ran into this foreigner. He was really big and grim-looking. And I noticed that he only had one hand."

Sakura gasped. Meiling wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yeah, really disgusting, right? Anyway I was going to apologize to him when he grabbed this sword out of nowhere. He attacked me so I had to fight back. I'm really good of course," Sakura, remembering Meiling's performance with the Fight Card, nodded. "But he was really good too. So we fought for a while, up and down the street. Then he stopped moving and started laughing. I got really mad at first. He said something about how I would do and then he lunged at me with the sword. It went right through me; I thought I was going to die. When I looked up, he was gone and I was all alone on a street in Hong Kong."

"When she returned home, we could all feel the magic in her." Li leaned in. "No one is entirely sure who the stranger was, but the elders have looked through her magic very carefully. When we received the letter from Hogwarts, it was decided that it was all right for us to go."

"They think maybe we'll find something up here. Because the guy was a foreigner or something. Mostly I think they don't know what to do with me." Meiling added.

The four of them continued talking until Sonomi returned, when they split up for dinner. As Sakura curled up into bed that night, she couldn't help but think about the ravens and the strange man who had sparked magic in Meiling. They were such strange stories.

---------------------

After breakfast, the schedules were handed out. The classes were separated by House, with some classes involving one House and some including two. Most of their combined classes were with the Ravenclaws, although they did have Herbology with the Gryffindors. Sakura was happy that they had a class with Li and Meiling. It seemed like the separated tables and common rooms would make it hard to spend much time with the two otherwise. She wondered why they didn't share any classes with the Slytherins but she shrugged it aside. Maybe next year they would.

As well as the normal classes, the Asian students were also taking an extra class twice a week on language comprehension and European customs to help them adapt. This class was listed as being taught by the Muggle Studies teacher, Maorui Li. Sakura wondered if she was any relation to the Li cousins. Meiling had once tried to tell her how large the Li family was, but Sakura had blanked out when they got to the second cousins twice removed.

Sakura wasn't sure if Kero could come to her classes with her. The teachers might . She wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave him alone though. Without video games or TV to distract him, the small being was capable of far too much mischief. She resolved to ask her teachers if he could sit in on at least some of classes. Giving him something to pay attention to might keep him out of some trouble. She hoped.


	6. Gardens and Riots

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. Not even my own sanity, as evidenced in the fact that I'm actually writing a cross-over.

As Sakura was looking over her schedule on the first morning of classes, Professor Sprout moved over to her table. The cheerful Hufflepuff teacher smiled warmly and stopped in front of the two foreign students.

"Miss Kinomoto, Miss Daidouji, I do hope you are settling in well. I'm sorry that I didn't speak with you last night, but some very important matters came up." She frowned worriedly for a moment.

"No, it is alright." Sakura rushed to reassure the professor. "We are very happy to be here."

Tomoyo smiled calmly. "The older students were very helpful. Everyone has been very nice to us.

"How wonderful," Professor Sprout beamed at them. "We do have some marvelous people in Hufflepuff and I'm very happy to welcome you to our House. Now, Miss Kinomoto, your familiar—Cerberus, the paper from the Ministry said? The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and the History professor would like to examine it at some point. They're very curious about it."

Sakura peered over at Kero, who was still preening under the attention of the other students. "Yes, I think that would be well. Ah, I was wondering, what should he do while I am in class? He is bored very easily and I do not wish him to cause trouble for anyone."

Professor Sprout smiled benevolently. "The Headmaster has decided that it may be allowed to go anywhere that the students are allowed to go, as long as it doesn't cause any trouble. I'm afraid it might be too much of a distraction in class, although I might allow you to bring it in one time to see."

At that moment, Kero let out an outraged screech from further down the table.

-----------------

By the time breakfast at the hotel was over, Sakura and Kero were determinedly not talking to each other. If she was honest with herself, Sakura wasn't entirely sure what they were fighting about. She had woken up feeling out of sorts and suddenly everything about Kero simply seemed to irritate her.

Sakura hadn't slept well. She had dreamed of the ravens from the Tower, their black eyes glittering at her with alien emotions, their harsh cries rending her senses until she cried blood. She stumbled in the snow trying to escape the echoing sound and tearing her skin on burning cold shards of ice. The great birds watched her dispassionately, hunched together on a large dead tree. The dreams, disjointed and nightmarish had continued throughout the night and Sakura had woken trembling more than once.

Kero adamantly refused to be left in the hotel again, and Tomoyo offered to let him ride in her purse. Sakura ignored the small creature as best she could. The Japanese group was going to Kew Gardens, where they would have lunch before joining Meiling and Li again for a trip to Diagon Alley.

It was an awkward ride to the Gardens, with Kero fuming and Sakura in an unusually quiet mood. Tomoyo was worried for her friend and Sonomi even cut off a phone call from Japan to ask if the subdued girl was alright. Kero stuck his head out of Tomoyo's bag surreptitiously.

Sakura quickly smiled. "I'm alright. I just didn't sleep well last night. Thank you, but please don't worry." She made an effort to banish the dream-images that had been haunting her to the back of her mind. "I'm lucky to have such caring people around me! Oh look! There they are!"

The Royal Botanical Gardens were beautiful. Huge green lawns were dotted with exotic trees and carefully maintained flowerbeds. After a couple of hours wandering along the paths and through some of the greenhouses, Sonomi led the girls to a small brick house that the map labeled as toilets. Inside, they turned away from the restrooms and down a small, dark hall that ended at a door with a sign that said only "Authorized Personnel Only."

For the first time in the trip, Sonomi pulled out a wand. Sakura blinked in surprise; although she had known that Tomoyo's mother owned a wand, she hadn't really thought of the woman as ever needing to use it. Over the summer, Sonomi had shown the girls a few family charms, but none of them had required a European style wand. Sakura's own wand was in the bottom of her backpack, along with the Cards. The Key was, as always, safely around her neck, in case of any emergency. Absent-midedly, she started to run her finger over the pendent.

However, Sonomi simply tapped her wand on the door handle, and then put it back into her briefcase before opening the door. Sakura sighed in relief, and then gasped in amazement the door opened out and she saw out into the Wizarding section of Kew Gardens. The view was dominated by a huge tree reaching up in the sky, higher and higher, until the trunk finally disappeared into the clouds. Sakura could see a beautiful Victorian-styled building on one of the larger branches. Perched on the wood were a number of small tables and chairs with robed witches and wizards chatting over tea and sandwiches. A long spiral staircase circled the outside of the tree from the ground up to the café.

"Ohhhh." Sakura exclaimed. "It's so big!"

Sonomi chuckled indulgently. "Oh yes, bigger than most people can imagine. The British say it is one of the First Trees—an Oak, and the ancestor of all oak trees. Historians tell us that every tree in the world can be traced back to a First Tree, born in the Beginning and living on, growing bigger and bigger, until the end of the world. They are magnificent to look at."

"How amazing." Tomoyo smiled as she slowly tilted her camera up to see where the thick trunk of the tree disappeared into the clouds, then swung back down to catch Sakura's awed expression. Kero, peeking out of the bag with sad eyes, stayed quiet.

The Old Café was not the only structure on the branches of the First Oak. On various branches there were raised gardens in stone-lined beds, greenhouses, and a gallery of famous Herbologists and Potion Masters. Sonomi recommended a visit to the tropical greenhouse and Sakura wanted to see the famous moving hedge maze. They all agreed to stop briefly by the café on their way down to the ground gardens.

The hedge maze reminded Sakura of when they had captured the Maze Card, especially when one hedge popped up between her and Tomoyo. It took the three of them ten minutes of calling back and forth while walking around to find a way meet up again. After that, they agreed to hold hands on their way through the maze, since the bushes where charmed not to move in a way that would hurt any visitors. They skipped out of the maze, giggling happily even though they hadn't managed to find the central plaza, which was said to have a magical fountain that contained the favorite drink of anyone who approached it. Sakura was a little disappointed, but since they were on something of a schedule, she decided it was better to see more of the gardens then to spend the whole day lost in the maze.

They rushed through the greenhouse, admiring the man-eating orchids and the carefully tended night-blooming lunar flowers equally. At the café, they talked about Sonomi's business and Tomoyo's last choir performance over hot cocoa. Tomoyo ordered an extra cup for Kero, who sipped at it quietly. A little worried even now, though still vaguely irritated with him, Sakura asked if anything was wrong. Kero just shook his head and floated off to stare over the edge of the branch, leaving his chocolate unfinished.

"I wonder…" Tomoyo murmured, staring after the small creature.

Sakura tilted her head curiously. "Hmmm?"

"Oh." Tomoyo smiled sadly. "I was just wondering if being here in London was making Kero-chan think of Clow Reed-san."

Sakura blinked in surprise. She knew the two Clow guardians missed their creator very much, but it hadn't occurred to her that being in England might make Kero sad because of that. She bit her lip worriedly, but decided to leave her companion alone for a while. Sometimes, she knew, it was good to have some quiet time to remember your loved ones. When Kero was ready to talk to her, he would.

Glancing at the suddenly melancholy girls and beast, Sonomi decided it was time to move on. She ushered the small group back to the stairs, chattering about how late it was getting, and how they had better hurry up and see a little more before they had to leave.

They wandered through a magical rose garden, over a pond filled with grey-green gillyweed and large glowing lotuses, through the Tea Garden and into a small stand of trees. A sign near the beginning of the grove said that it was a wand orchard, and that all of the trees there were sometimes used in the making of wands for witches and wizards. Sonomi told the girls that wands could only be made from living wood. Sakura wondered if it hurt the trees, having branches torn off to make wands.

As they wandered through the grove, they saw that each tree had a small plaque attached to it, that declared what kind of tree it was and magical properties the wood added to a wand. Sonomi read a few out loud to the girls, who still struggled with written English. "Oak—a tree connected to the gods Odin, Jupiter, Lugh, and Brigid. The sovereign tree of England, the oak is connected to the sun, lightening, and the force of Truth. The wood offers gifts of stability and strength. Merlin and the Magus John Dee wielded oaken staves and wands. Hmmm. Of course, they don't mention any of the Asian mythological connections, only European. Oh well."

"This one's an Elm—a Border Tree associated with death and rebirth. In Norse mythology, Ask and Embla (Ash and Elm) were the two trees that the gods breathed life into and made the first humans from. Elm wood protects against danger from unknown directions and shadows the user against discovery. In medieval times, elm wands were used to deadly affect by many famous warrior wizards." Sakura was curious to hear that elms were connected to the ash tree, which her own wand was made from. She wondered what ash wood was connected to, according to the English wizards.

Sakura wandered farther and farther down the path looking for an ash tree. The trees were getting thicker and the light grew dimmer. Peering curiously into the gloom, Sakura thought she could see an old well in the middle of the clearing. Something about it pulled her, closer and closer, until she could see three figures leaning over the well. Who were they? She wanted to know—had to know, to get closer and see them…

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder. "Now miss, you don't want to be wandering too much farther." Startled, Sakura whirled around to find a stout man in a dark brown robe staring down at her, his hand still resting on her shoulder. Sonomi and Tomoyo were hurrying down the path from where they had stopped to look at the cherry tree. "That's a dangerous place, that forest over there. You don't want to be going in, it connects to the Forbidden Forest, it does."

"The Forbidden Forest?" Sakura whispered, a little afraid.

"Ayeah. It's an old forest, very magical. There are bits and pieces of it all over the world, and they say it's all connected. All one forest, even though it's all spread out. Some say it's the first forest, like that mother oak out there is a First Tree." His face was filled with shadows and his eyes were dark and unreadable. He squeezed her shoulder gently, then let go and stepped back. "There's strange things out there, miss. Terrible and beautiful, and most of all, very, very old."

Tomoyo reached Sakura first, hurriedly checking over her friend before Sonomi joined them. "Sakura-chan, are you all right?" Sakura quickly reassured them that she was fine and turned to thank the man, but he was already retreating down the path. Sonomi glared suspiciously at his back. She ushered the girls out of the Gardens to meet Li and Meiling before going to Diagon Alley. It was another quiet ride back into London.

Li and Meiling must have sensed the somber atmosphere, but they did not to acknowledge it. Instead Meiling drew Tomoyo into an animated conversation about European fashions while Sonomi led the group into the small pub where they would find the entrance to the famous alley.

Sonomi generously offered to have her bodyguards arrange for all of their purchases to be delivered to their London addresses so that the children wouldn't be burdened with heavy packages on their trip. Although the Japanese girls already had their school-books, Li and Meiling did not, so the group decided to stop by the book shop first. One of the Chinese children's many relatives had apparently placed an order for bilingual Chinese copies of all their textbooks. Sakura wondered aloud why there were Chinese translations when they hadn't been able to find any Japanese ones. Meiling started to smugly say something about the superiority of the language when Li cut her off.

"There are a number of Chinese clans that have family member in London, such as the Li Clan," he told the curious girl. She smiled gratefully at him and he blushed lightly before rushing off to find something else.

After the bookstore, they bought some potion ingredients and cauldrons. They passed by Madame Malkin's before going into the pet store. Sonomi wanted to buy Tomoyo a cat to take with her to Hogwarts. Meiling sniffed at some of the balls of fluff on display and try to steer Tomoyo towards some of the tougher looking alley cats—though she did keep sneaking glances at one particularly adorable looking tabby kitten playing with a ball of yarn in the corner. Li and Sakura had already had their own familiars, Kero and one of the Li family guardian animals.

Sakura was in the middle of trying to guess what kind of animal it could be, when they noticed a large crowd gathering outside the shop.

Curious, the two children stepped outside of the store. Sakura could just barely see a young man in the middle of the crowd, standing on a box and shouting. His voice rose above the murmuring people, strong and clear.

"You hate us? Fear us? What about Grindelwald and his Cleansing Agents? What about Voldemort"—a collective gasp resounded through the crowd—"and his Deatheaters? You think we're so dangerous? Look to yourselves to find evil! Those were wizards, yes and witches too, normal men and women, corrupted by hatred and greed!" Li grabbed Sakura's hand, gripping it almost hard enough to hurt. Sakura glanced at him, worried. His face was grim and his other hand was reaching towards the amulet he hid his sword in.

Someone in the crowd threw a rock at the ragged speaker. He pulled out a stick and deflected it, continuing to shout.

"He's got an illegal wand!" Someone yelled. "Stun him!"

Latin curses flew through the air, too fast and strange for Sakura to understand. People ran haphazardly down the street, pushing and elbowing others out of their way. Sakura and Li were helpless in the crowd, stumbling out of the way until they were lost and stranded in the mass of people. Everyone was shouting and Sakura could see bright flashes of light soaring through the air. She wondered what they were.

From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Li pull out his sword and she reached for her Key. If she could put up Shield to protect them from stray hexes, then maybe she could use Jump or Fly to look for the others.

Suddenly, her view of the crowd was blocked by a man's back. He muttered a few words and Sakura saw the air around them shimmer slightly. One of the bolts of light flying around hit the shimmer and bounced off in the other direction.

The man turned to the children. His face was kind, though lined with weariness, and Sakura instantly felt like she could trust him. Li glared at the man hostilely.

A smile creased the man's worn face. His light brown hair was sprinkled with grey and lines gathered around his eyes and mouth. His clothes were patched and worn, but very clean. "A very exciting day we're having. Perhaps we should go somewhere quieter—and safer." He gestured towards a small shop. Sakura decided to follow him in, Li trailing unhappily behind them, mumbling about trusting strangers.

"Arigato gozaimasu," Sakura bowed, then jumped up, flustered. "I mean, thank you very much, sir." The man smiled. Li scowled and ground out "We have to find the others."

"Oh, of course!" Sakura blinked. She explained to the man that they had left their friends in the pet shop and they would be worried.

The man chuckled and, after speaking to the woman running the shop, led the children out the back door to a small, deserted street. "Luckily, there are back ways between most of the shops in case of emergencies. We wouldn't want to get caught in that crowd again."

Reuniting with their very worried friends, Sakura and Li were pressed to recount their short adventure. Starting to explain how the man had saved them, Sakura suddenly realized she had completely forgotten to introduce herself to him. Blushing furiously, she apologized and told him her name, along with those of the rest of her group. She even introduced Kero, who had rushed over when she first arrived, scolding her, and attached himself to her shoulder.

The man turned out to be Remus Lupin, and he was a teacher at Hogwarts. Sonomi thanked him for protecting the children and offered to buy everyone ice cream to give them time to get over the scare. Outside, the melee had calmed down quite a bit, and they moved over to the ice cream shop, chattering about the riot, Tomoyo's new cat, and Hogwarts.

Taking a moment out of her conversation with Tomoyo to concentrate on enjoying her strawberry sundae—she had been tempted by some of the stranger dishes but ended up with something she could recognize—Sakura looked over her friends. Sonomi and Professor Lupin were discussing some of the political goings-on in Britain in hushed voices. Li was brooding and glaring at the teacher and Meiling… Meiling looked pensive.

Sakura scooted her chair closer to her friend. "Is something wrong, Meiling-chan?"

The other girl shook her head. "No. I don't think so. I don't know." She frowned. "It's just, do you think there's something strange about that guy?"

Sakura looked at Professor Lupin. Catching her watching, he smiled and winked at her. She smiled back and turned to Meiling again. "No, I like him very much. He seems very nice."

Meiling started kicking the table. "Yeah. He does. I guess."

Meiling refused to continue the conversation so Sakura eventually gave up and started to admire Tomoyo's new cat. Still, every once in a while, she glanced over at the quiet Chinese girl, who was glaring at the floor, the table, or every once in a while at the man across from her. Her eyes were filled with strange and complicated emotions, and Sakura thought she saw something like fear, but mixed with affection and something that she would almost call regret.

--------

"They say he's a werewolf!"

The other Hufflepuffs had started telling the first years about their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He wasn't at the staff table for breakfast that morning. Sakura thought he had probably been at the Sorting, but she hadn't really noticed, as excited and tired as she had been that night.

Apparently, he was the first teacher to stay in decades to keep the DADA position for more than a year. Sakura wasn't sure why it had been a problem for other teachers; her English wasn't quite good enough to catch everything when everyone kept talking over each other.

"My mom says Fenrir Greyback himself turned him!" One awed boy whispered loudly.

Another girl shuddered and looked frightened. "Are you sure he's, you know, safe? I mean…"

"Don't be stupid. They wouldn't let him teach at Hogwarts if he wasn't safe." A boy said scornfully.

"Well, anyways, he's plenty exciting. He's just so handsome!" An older girl on the other side of the table sighed happily.

"Hmmph. If you say so. I think he just looks so old, myself."


	7. The First Day

Disclaimer: I have no claim on either of these very fun series. Only a few of the ideas belong to me. The flash-forward, flash-back is catching up to itself so I may drop it permanently. WARNING: NOT BETAD.

I was reading back over the FFN chapters—can anyone tell me why it seems to be dropping words? I get that FFN doesn't like certain symbols, but now it seems to be missing words completely randomly.

Kero didn't have much luck making friends with the wizards' familiars at Hogwarts. The cats and toads were more intelligent than many of those not exposed to constant levels of high magical output, but they didn't stand up to his dazzling wit. The few toads stared at him dully before he gave up and flew a way and the cats were more likely to try and pounce on him than anything.

He missed his video games. He missed daytime television and the cakes Tomoyo-chan always made. He tried hanging out with the owls, but they were too stuffy and proud. As if running messages everywhere was the best thing ever. Huh!

aaaaaaaaaaaa

eeeeeeeeeeee

The platform was filled with people, hugging and shouting and bustling about. The feeling of excitement in the air was like a rising tide, growing higher and heavier with each second of waiting. Sakura felt nervous, sad, and more than a little lost. For all the months of preparation and planning, the idea of being at a school half the world away from her family and friends had never been quite so real before. Even the past week in London had seemed more like a vacation, at the end of which she would be going home.

Instead, here she was, surrounded by people in odd clothing, speaking a strange language and about to board a train alone. A delicate hand slipped into hers and squeezed gently. Looking at Tomoyo's reassuring smile Sakura remembered that she was not truly alone on this adventure. In her pocket, there was a rustling movement, as if the Cards were also trying to comfort their owner. From near the platform's entrance she heard Meiling's strident tones complaining about the crowd. Li would be with his cousin, Sakura knew, and Kero was sleeping in her bag.

Once, these four had been the only ones to share her magical secret. They had supported her through an adventure that had isolated her from everyone else even while she pretended to have a normal life. Now they would be here with her on this new journey. She knew everything would be alright with her friends' help.

As the Li cousins made their way through the crowd, Sakura smiled brightly in response to their warm greetings. If there was a slight sheen of tears in her eyes, everyone seemed to blame it on excitement.

"I'm sure this is going to be so much fun! We'll get to learn magic and spend time with each other every day, just like before." Sakura was practically bouncing as she thought about it. She had sincerely missed her Chinese friends.

Meiling scowled. "I bet they manage to make it boring. Classes, tests, and Auntie Jiang said that don't have any martial arts teachers. I will not have anyone to spar except Syaoran." She straightened up with an imperious glare at a group of girls giggling nervously nearby. "Of course, Syaoran is the best, so it will be fine."

The train ride was uneventful. The Asian students had a compartment to themselves, near the restrooms. Tomoyo and Sakura had used the kitchen in their hotel suite to make bentos for the group, so they waved on the snack trolley when she passed. Sakura regretted it a little; she liked some of the British snacks and she and Kero were always happy to try new sources of sugar, but she was also happy that her friends were enjoying the lunches she had helped make.

A full stomach and the gentle motion of the train made Sakura sleepy. She dozed through most of the train ride, images and ideas skipping through her drowsy conciousness, too ephemeral to be well remembered. Mostly she had impressions of her friends, laughing and playing and of a great castle welcoming them. If, on the edge of her mind there was an occasional flash of black wings and a hint of cold air, she didn't remember it at all.

The boat ride across the lake woke Sakura up thoroughly. If the sheer excitement of almost being to the new school hadn't been enough to wake her, the cold spray hitting her face would have. She could see the castle, rising up on the other shore, impressive and beautiful. She might have found its size a little intimidating but there was such a warm, welcoming feeling rising from it that her nervousness drifted away. It felt almost like coming home. She wondered if it was part of the castle's magic to make people feel this way.

The students disembarked at the castle docks and moved into the entrance hall to await their Sorting. Sakura's nervousness returned full force. She worried that her friends might be put in different Houses, separated and isolated. There must be some way for different Houses to socialize out of class. This year would be unbearable without her friends. She felt Kero shifting in her bag as if to remind her that he, at least, would always be with her.

Sakura put on her determined face and shook away her worries. Everything was sure to be all right, she promised herself. Turning to smile at Meiling, who was kicking impatiently at the floor, Sakura spotted something moving by the wall. No, it was moving through the wall, see-through and floating like a—a ghost! Sakura screamed and threw herself at Tomoyo. Huddling into her friend's protective embrace, Sakura didn't see Li reach for his sword or Meiling settle into a defensive stance in front of her. The ghosts were chuckling at the surprised students and, seeing that they offered no threat, the Li cousins relaxed slightly. Tomoyo did her best to comfort the terrified girl in her arms.

"Don't worry, Sakura-san." Over the week they had spent together in London, Tomoyo had convinced Meiling to use the Japanese girls' given names. "They can't hurt you. Come on, don't be a scaredycat." Meiling was doing her best to comfort her friend as well.

Li and Kero both scowled at the ghosts, then at each other. "Don't worry. It's alright." Sakura peeked out over her shoulder and smiled tremulously at her friends. She would have to get over this fear, since the ghosts were regular residents of the castle.

The Sorting went better than Sakura had feared. Tomoyo had pouted a bit about not being able to tape it but she had had a while to get used to the idea that electronics didn't work at Hogwarts. She would just have to make up for it in the summer. Sakura was somewhat disappointed that Li and Meiling would be in Gryffindor instead of in Hufflepuff. At least she and Tomoyo would be together. The feast was delicious, though the headmaster's speech had seemed a bit odd—maybe it was just because she wasn't used to English yet. She still mixed up some words and of course she didn't know every word in the language.

Kero made a spectacle of himself, but Sakura had been expecting that. Faced with pudding, he just couldn't help but be a little ridiculous. It was one of the things she loved about him even if it was a little embarrassing sometimes. It made her miss home though—normally Touya would have made a snide comment about the "plush's" appetite and there would have been a fight. Or at least a glaring contest.

That little bit of melancholy stayed with Sakura even as she was swept up in the excitement of meeting her new class-mates and seeing her dorm. She went to sleep watching the stars and thinking of her family sitting on their balcony and looking up at the sky as well.

Herbology was their first class after breakfast the next morning. "It's so wonderful we have a class together, Meiling-chan, Li-kun. And since English lessons are tomorrow we'll be able to learn together everyday!" Sakura beamed at her friends as they walked together to the greenhouses.

Tomoyo and Meiling had a quick, quiet conversation on the way down from breakfast. Once they started settling down inside the greenhouse, Meiling pulled Li aside and had a whispered argument with him. A blushing Li sat down by Sakura. "Ah, Kinomoto-san, um…" Meiling kicked him and Tomoyo smiled sweetly at her. Li scowled. "You can call me Syaoran. If you want."

Sakura clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Of course, Syaoran-kun. If you will call me Sakura. It seems like English people do not use family names as much. Why, I don't even know Cecilia-san's family name."

Sakura chattered on, telling Syaoran and Meiling about the Hufflepuff girl that had offered to sponsor the Japanese girls. It seemed that Gryffindor didn't have the same system. Sakura hoped that wouldn't be too much of a problem for the Li cousins. Hogwarts was a confusing place and it was very nice to have someone guide her through all of its strangeness.

Herbology was a very interesting class. Professor Sprout was a nice teacher and the plants were very unusual. While the students were busying studying the plants she set out, the professor pulled Sakura aside and quizzed her about the Woody and Flower cards. Sakura wasn't sure about using them in class—she didn't want the other students to think she was showing off—but she promised to come to the greenhouse when afternoon classes were over to show Professor Sprout what the cards could do.

Kero was invited to the Transfiguration class. He had no qualms about showing off and preened incessantly while the teacher lectured the students about the innate transfiguration abilities of certain animals and exclaimed over the craftsmanship Clow Reed had put into Kero's creation. She asked him to stop by her other classes as well to show them both of his forms. Sakura could barely eat lunch, she was so embarrassed over Kero's behavior.

After lunch, Hufflepuffs had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. Sakura remembered hearing some of her classmates talking about the teacher over breakfast. Was he really a werewolf? They weren't common in Japan, being European in origin, and Sakura had never dealt with one as the Card Mistress. She had read a little about them in her Defense textbook though. It sounded frightening and lonely to be so out of control every month. The book had also said that British ministry had many laws restricting what werewolves were allowed to do and where they were allowed to be. She felt very sorry for them.

The professor was a handsome older man, with long red hair and fierce-looking scars covering her face. Sakura tried not to stare and was embarrassed by the rudeness of her classmates as some of them gaped at him and started whispering furiously among themselves.

"Good morning class. I am Professor Weasley. I will be teaching this class along with Professor Lupin since he is unable to attend class during some parts of the month." Sakura remembered Professor Lupin suddenly. He had helped them at the riot in Diagon Alley—she had completely forgotten to look and see if he was at the teacher's table at the Sorting Feast. She felt really bad about that.

For that first day of class, Professor Weasley went over what lessons would look like. First year students would skim over some of the most common dangerous creatures as well as basic defensive spells. He also emphasized that while the class was called Defense Against the Dark Arts, what they wanted to teach the students was how to defend themselves in any dangerous situation. The textbook was one of the ones that was only available in English and so Sakura and Tomoyo had bought copies over the summer and started to study ahead of time. It concentrated almost exclusively on European creatures, with only a few short mentions of Japanese kappa or Native American wendigoes. Sakura also noticed that the book never talked about anything other than the human point of view and only listed ways to defeat other beings not how to negotiate them.

Since becoming the true Card Mistress, Sakura had had occasional dealings with some of the supernatural beings living in or near Tomoeda. Over the summer Tomoyo's mother had also taught the girls a bit about the Japanese Wizarding Council and they been able to observe some of the negotiations between the council and a tribe of kappa that had been drowning humans in a river running through a small eastern village. The kappa had been upset about human litter and waste polluting their nesting grounds. The council had conferred with the town's government about upholding stricter environmental standards and had sent in a miko and two sorcerers to help clean up the river. They had also traded a supply of fresh cucumbers for the two children the kappa tribe were holding hostage.

Sakura knew that were some malicious creatures who liked hurting people and would continue to do so for their own pleasure no matter what, just like there were some malicious humans. In cases like that, or for immediate self-defense, she knew that it was important to know how to defeat them. Still, it worried her that the book only seemed to teach students how to subjugate other beings and barely touched on how to treat them with respect so that conflicts didn't happen.

Professor Weasley seemed much better informed than the book though. He did tell the class that the best way to defend themselves was to avoid a conflict and he talked a little bit about his own experiences. Apparently he had once been a curse-breaker for a goblin bank. He told the class about the curses guarding ancient tombs—as well as the other guards such as great sphinxes or giant crocodiles who spoke ancient Egyptian. It was a fascinating class and some of the Professor's stories made Sakura think of her father's archaeological work in Japan. He had that same fascination for ancient civilizations and other, older philosophies of life.

The Hufflepuffs kept chatting about the professor's tales over supper. Cecilia made a point to sit next to Sakura and Tomoyo and ask them a bit about their day while Kero once again went into raptures over the food. Cecilia listened with interest while Sakura told her some of her thoughts and worries about the Defense textbook.

"I suppose you're right about the book. Anyways, most of the books are pretty dry—unless you've got some Ravenclaw in you, you'll find that the teachers are more interesting. Except for the really bad ones." She grinned. "The History of Magic teacher used to be so dull that he put even the Ravenclaws to sleep. Lucky we have a new one now. She's absolutely tops."

"Did the old one leave?" Sakura asked, glad that she wouldn't have to worry about falling asleep in class. That was always so embarrassing!

"Yeah, sort of. He was actually dead but he didn't seem to realize it. One day he woke and realized he was a ghost. He said he'd spent enough of his life teaching students about the Goblin Rebellion and he wanted to spend his afterlife doing something different. At least that's the way I heard it." Another student leaned over to join the conversation.

Sakura had blanched and started trembling part way through his explanation. Tomoyo grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "A g-ghost? Are any of the other teachers…" She trailed off nervously.

Cecilia frowned and patted Sakura on the back. "Don't worry, Professor Binns was the only one. The rest are pretty normal—well, they're all alive anyways."

After dinner the prefects herded the students back to their dorms. Sakura decided that she would try and arrange a time with Meiling and Syaoran the next day to meet in the library. It was nice they had classes together, but she also wanted to spend time with them as friends not just classmates.

She spent the evening playing board games with Tomoyo and the other students and starting her essay for Transfigurations. That night, she dreamed again. A bear-like man loomed over her, his expression fierce—and a little sad. Behind him, the ravens rose in flight, their black wings a harsh contrast against falling snow and their cries tearing at her ears. The man held a sword dripping with blood in one hand and, as she watched, he turned offering it to someone else, someone she could barely see. She moved closer, trying to see the familiar figure more clearly, but she stumbled in the snow, tearing the skin of her palms on burning cold shards of ice. Her blood blended with the snow and a burning branch fell off the dead ash tree into a stagnant pond and the world exploded

Sakura was tired and a little depressed at breakfast the next morning. Tomoyo clucked worriedly over her, making sure she ate and trying to cheer her up.

aaaaaaaaaaa

eeeeeeeeeee

It didn't take Kero too long to find the kitchens. He could sniff out pastry and pudding anywhere. When the delicious smells led him to a painting of a basket of fruit, he knew something tricky was going on. He remembered that from Clow Reed's time in England—wizards always liked to be tricky. Now they were hiding the food from him!

He hovered near the ceiling, waiting for someone to come by. Humans, even wizards, rarely looked up. Someone would want into the kitchens, and then he would have his chance!


End file.
